I Didn't Mean to Hurt You: A Miraculous Ladybug Reveal Story (Rewrite)

Forget Chinese

Adrien tapped his pencil on the yellow notepad in front of him. He was supposed to be doing Chinese homework, but instead he sat in front of a poorly drawn t-chart with two names on top. Ladybug on the left, Marinette on the right. He couldn't get Marinette's strange comment from that afternoon out of his mind.

Dark hair.....Dark hair

Bluebell eyes....Bluebell eyes

Worried After Akuma Attack....Worried After Akuma Attack

Would be Late for Class (like me)....Late for Class

Strong...???

Brave...???

Kind....Kind

Confident....Shy

He drummed his fingers on the desk. Was Marinette really shy? He had overheard her talking to friends without stuttering and she had been confident while pulling her stunt when he pretended to be a statue.

That whole episode still had him baffled. He wasn't used to having friends and, while he learned to navigate his friendship with Nino quite well, Adrien couldn't seem to figure things out with Marinette.

Some days, it seemed luke she hated him and was avoiding him. Other times, she acted so caring and kind towards him. He knew she was a fan of his fashion work, but were they really friends like Marinette had said? He wasn't sure. And he wasn't convinced she was shy, although he couldn't describe her as confident either. She was sort of in the middle. He edited the note.

Confident...shy (sometimes)

Looking at the line, Adrien had to admit that Ladybug acted shy sometimes too. He had heard her stutter and avoid eye contact just like Marinette. It wasn't often, that was for sure, but he had seen it enough times that he couldn't dismiss it. Then something clicked. He had only seen Ladybug act shy as Adrien, never as Chat Noir.

His mind started to spin as replayed his memories of shy Ladybug. Was it Adrien that caused her to be this way?  Did Ladybug not like his alter ego? Or was she scared of him? He wasn't sure, but he made a note anyway.

Shy Around Adrien....Shy Around Adrien

He stared at the words with a new insight. Maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea that Ladybug was Marinette.But the question of why Ladybug was so shy around Adrien echoed even louder in his mind than his first question. Then one memory in particular came soaring into the front of his mind.

Ladybug had been so quick to surrender her miraculous to Volpina in the moment she thought Adrien was about to be dropped from the Eiffel Tower. He hadn't thought much at the time, but he saw now that Ladybug had been really worried about him. And then, earlier, she had been looking for someone at the movies. Could it be that she was worried about Adrien again? After all, Adrien couldn't appear before Chat Noir was gone.

Adrien shook his head in frustration. This wasn't helping. He tore out the chart from the notepad, crumbled it and threw it into the trash can. He picked up the pencil and started writing again, choosing to focus on his original question instead of diving into a rabbit hole.

Reasons Why Marinette CAN'T Be Ladybug

She too awkward and shy

Scratch that out. He didn't know that for sure.

I've seen them together

Scratch that. He hadn't seen them together at the exact same time. It was a bit of a stretch, but it wasn't impossible for Ladybug to have de-transformed and then reappear as Marinette so quickly. After all, he himself had pulled it off.

Marinette loves Chat Noir

Ha! There was his answer. After all, she had confessed to him on the rooftop of her parent's bakery! How could he have forgotten about that? He turned back to his Chinese once again. But his eyes couldn't stay focused.

He leaned back in the chair and lifted the notepad well above his head. If Chat Noir bumped into her right after transforming, Ladybug would do anything to make sure Chat Noir didn't realize who she was. Claiming to be in love with him would certainly do the trick. Had she been lying?

There was also that time with the Evillustrator. Ladybug had sent her a picture of Marinette and asked him to protector since she was busy on a 'secret mission'. It wasn't until after Marinette was gone that Ladybug had shown up. And Marinette's quick thinking that had gotten them out of that box was very Ladybug-like. More so, Marinette hadn't been awkward and shy around Chat Noir. He couldn't remember her stuttering even once.

She's busy tonight, so...you get to be my ladybug.

Could he really have been saying that to the real Ladybug? After all, Marinette's response was a little over the top. He had figured it was just the excitement of working alongside the famous Chat Noir, but maybe not. Maybe it was because she really was Ladybug?

Adrien stood and walked over to the trash can and pulled out the t-chart. He smoothed it out and stared at it again.

Shy around Adrien.

It was the one thought he kept coming back to. He knew that Marinette only acted like that around him and no one else. If he could undertsand why, and figure out why Ladybug was also that way with him, he might be able to put the matter to rest. It would be easy enough to talk to Ladybug about it, but figuring out the truth about Marinette was more complicated. Then Adrien had the most brilliant idea. There was one person that knew everything about Marinette and she was always willing to help out her friends. Maybe she would do the same for him. After all, he was best friends with her boyfriend.